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Stop $70B More for Iraq: Shut Down Congress' Phones

Once again our Democratic "leaders" are betraying our troops by keeping them in Iraq forever to be murdered or maimed for no reason except the insatiable greed of Bush-Cheney's oil cronies. 

On Tuesday, House Democrats plan to approve $30 billion more for Afghanistan. Then Senate Democrats plan to approve $70 billion to cover Iraq as well. Then House Democrats plan to approve the full $70 billion.

Why are our Democratic "leaders" betraying us? Because they want Bush to sign - not veto - the $522 billion omnibus spending bill to fund the government this year. We have no Democratic "leaders" - we have utterly incompetent negotiators who lose 100% of their battles, no matter how much public support they have.

Our Democrats in Congress clearly do not care about the voters who elect them, whether Democrats or Independents, virtually all of whom want them to end the disastrous occupation of Iraq now. Our Democrats in Congress do not care about the troops fighting in Iraq and their families, who oppose the occupation even more than the rest of us, by 69% to 64%. The only support for the occupation of Iraq comes from hard-core Bush Republican voters who never vote for Democrats.

Who do Democrats in Congress actually care about? The donors who fund them - period. So call your Representatives and Senators with a simple message:
Not one more penny for Iraq - or not one more penny for your campaign.
If you have ever contributed to your Representatives or Senators or to any Democratic committee, be sure to tell them how much you will not give them.

Let's all call Monday and Tuesday (between 9-5 ET) and shut down the Congressional phone system . Call your Representatives directly:
http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html
Or call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121
Or call toll-free: 800-828-0498 - 800-614 2803 - 866-340 9281

And join the Democratic Donor Strike against the DCCC and DSCC
http://democrats.com/donor-strike-2007

More from our friends at United For Peace and Justice:

Gather some friends together and pay a visit to one or more of your legislators. Stop by during lunch if that is convenient. Emphatically demand an end to the occupation. Your peaceful visit can be brief, or last long enough for your to read the names of every civilian and soldier killed in Iraq, or it can last until the member of Congress agrees to oppose all funding that is not tied to the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops and contractors.

If you are able to organize a visit, post notice of the visit here:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php?sortby=&caltype=59

Otherwise click to see if someone in your area has already organized a visit - enter your zip code and increase the search miles to find a protest near you.

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Calling All Progressives: Great Book AND Fun Bonus Gifts! Offer ends Tuesday!

Tired of Bush? Need some ammo against the right wing? Get The Progressives' Handbook, by Heather Wokusch. Freshly updated in November 2007, The Progressives' Handbook delivers hard facts and targeted action tips, and until midnight Tuesday ONLY, get FREE bonus gifts with every book purchase - freebie music, radio memberships, video excerpts and much more...

Interested in locating domestic WMD facilities, supporting reproductive rights, fighting educational cutbacks and promoting progressive media? It's all in The Progressives' Handbook. And until midnight Tuesday, pick up great bonus gifts, yours absolutely for FREE when you order a copy. Bonus-gift offer ends midnight Tuesday 11th - check it out NOW!
http://progressiveshandbook.com/bonusgifts

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Bush's Destruction of Torture Tapes is Another Impeachable Offense

George Bush has systematically scrubbed all evidence of his innumerable crimes since he went AWOL from the Texas Air National Guard in 1972.

Last week we learned he scrubbed CIA tapes that proved he engaged in torture, a war crime that has no statute of limitations. Bush issued a non-denial-denial, sending out his spokesliar to claim he has "no recollection" of the tapes or their destruction.

Translation: Bush personally watched them and ordered them destroyed but won't admit it while his staff works feverishly to destroy any evidence and blackmail any witnesses into silence. (Just ask Valerie Plame how Bush operates.) This explains the anonymously-leaked Washington Post article  claiming key Democrats were told about Bush's torture plans and didn't try to stop it.

Torture is an impeachable offense. Lying to federal courts about torture tapes sought by criminal defendants is an impeachable offense. Leaking classified information to blackmail Congressional leaders is an impeachable offense. 

We have collected 131,756 signatures on our petition to impeach Bush and Cheney:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/88
If you haven't signed it yet please do; if you have signed, please help us reach our goal of 1 million signatures by using the link above to forward it to a few friends.

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Declare War on Greed

Henry Kravis is a billionaire, the 57th richest person in America.  He acquired this wealth by purchasing public companies with borrowed money.  To pay off the debt, he cuts benefits at the company, sells its assets, and lays off employees.

This get-rich-quick scheme made him $450 million last year. Meanwhile, his tax rate is lower than teachers, firemen, nurses, even his own cleaning staff!

Yet everyday we hear another story, we live another experience, we see another example of the horrific economic pain our country is being devastated by.

It's time all of us started a WAR ON GREED.

Watch the video: http://warongreed.org/

Use this video as a funny, satirical, and poignant way of raising the issue with your friends, family and colleagues.  Then start up your creative juices and figure out what *you* would do if you lived in one of Kravis' mansions for a day during the holidays.  Would you feed the homeless?  Throw a huge party?  Sell everything on eBay? Throw a huge party FOR the homeless? 

Post a comment on the Brave New Films blog with your most creative use of Kravis' mansions, and you could be the star of our next video!

http://tinyurl.com/22d54j

Yep, we'll pick the best idea and send a crew out to your home to film you challenging Henry Kravis to implement your idea. Then we'll make sure he sees it.  And maybe a few reporters too.  :)

Please join us in this battle.  We plan to make the WAR ON GREED a key part of our work for the year ahead.  With the elections in full swing, we must work to get the critical issues of economic disparity into the political dialogue as we have done with war profiteering, FOX, Wal-Mart, and more.

Always fighting,
Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New Films team

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